Kaptol

Northeast of Trg bana Jelačića, the filigree spires of Zagreb’s cathedral mark the edge of the district known as Kaptol, home to the city’s Catholic institutions and still patrolled by pious citizens and nuns of various orders. The area consists of little more than one long street – initially called Kaptol, later becoming Nova ves in its northern reaches – and the cathedral itself (katedrala), at its southern end, the district’s only arresting feature. Ringed by ivy-cloaked turrets, the cathedral is almost wholly neo-Gothic, having been rebuilt by Viennese architects Friedrich von Schmidt and Hermann Bollé after a catastrophic earthquake in 1880. Most of the money and creative endeavour were invested in the two spires, the big architectural statement it was felt a growing city like Zagreb needed.